Jhoulys Chacin sat in the Rockies’ dugout at Coors Field on Monday afternoon, minutes after throwing a 25-pitch bullpen session. “It feels so good not to hurt anymore,” he said, flexing his right arm. “I’m ready to go. I’m ready to start fresh.”

Chacin’s next start, however, won’t be with the Rockies. He will have one more tuneup with Triple-A Colorado Springs, Thursday vs. Albuquerque, before rejoining the Rockies’ rotation next week in New York. Rockies manager Jim Tracy is eager to see what a healthy Chacin can do, and see how he will fit into the four-man rotation.

But what, precisely, will Tracy be watching for when Chacin finally gets back on a major-league mound? “Consistency,” Tracy said. “Consistency in the strike zone … being efficient with his pitches.”

In a start for Colorado Springs on Saturday, Chacin threw 84 pitches over 6 ⅔ innings in a 5-2 home loss to Round Rock (Texas). Chacin gave up three runs, but he had good downward movement on his fastball and he forced 12 groundball outs vs. just two flyball outs. His four-seam fastball was clicking at 91 and 92 mph.

“My fastball was working well and it was moving,” Chacin said. “That’s what I felt best about. And today, after I threw my bullpen, my arm feels really good, not sore at all. I’m happy about that.”

Chacin has been out since May 2 with a nerve irritation in his right pectoral muscle. He entered the season expecting to be a promising piece of a young rotation, but he was never right.

“If you go back and you look at the different stages he was at earlier in the season, his command was erratic, he was spraying his fastball,” Tracy said. “He became a completely breaking ball-type of pitcher. He was pitching around his fastball.”

To be effective, Chacin needs to pound the strike zone with his fastball, thus making batters vulnerable to his slider.

Chacin was 0-3 with a 7.30 ERA in five starts before going on the disabled list. At that point, he admitted he should have told the Rockies during spring training that his arm was hurting and his shoulder felt fatigued.

It wasn’t long ago — the spring of 2011, to be precise — when the right-hander projected to be a starter worthy of the front of the rotation. He’s a long way from that now. Since June 2011, he’s gone 3-13 with a 5.14 ERA over his last 21 starts with the Rockies. Although he tailed off dramatically in the second half of the 2011 season, Chacin still finished with a 3.62 ERA. He went 5-7 with a 3.68 ERA at Coors Field, including a six- hit shutout against the Chicago Cubs on April 15.

“I actually really like pitching here,” he said. “I know the ball flies a little bit more, but if you make your pitch, if you pitch down, you can get quick outs here.”

As he nears his return, Chacin hopes his personal roller-coaster ride is over.

“It’s been really hard, especially with how our pitching has been,” he said. “I had never been on the DL before and I wasn’t pitching good. So, yeah, it was really hard.”

Does he think he can rebound to become the pitcher the Rockies envisioned he would be?

“I’m very sure I can get back there,” he said. “I’m healthy now. I can make my pitches.”

MONTREAL — It’s a big deal to play or coach hockey in Montreal and Toronto, and for first-year Avalanche coach Jared Bednar, it’s bound to be extra special because it will be his first time in those historic Original Six markets. Indeed, the Canadian native from Yorkton, Saskatchewan, has never been to the Bell Centre or Air Canada Centre — where...

Shortly before the season began, Holmes, who had been dealing with a nagging hip since September, finally went in to get an X-ray to get the injury addressed. That X-ray revealed a mass on his hip, and following a biopsy, doctors diagnosed Holmes with Osteosarcoma.